Process of bleaching beeswax.



i To aZ l-ibhomtt STATES- ARMAND MULLER-JAcoBsoF HUNTINGTON, New Yon-K, Assmnon, nrn mncr A'Nn Mnsnn and State of declare the following ATENTJ mm.

AssIGNMEN'rs, or ONE-HALF To cA'rHARINa MULLERJACOBS, or HUNTINGTON, NEW .YORK, muons- AL To EDWARD WEINGARTNER, OF ,ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

camera '1 I Be it known t at I; ARMANI) MI'iLLER- 'JACOBS, "a citizenof the United- States, residing at Huntin ton, in the county of Suffolk ew York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Processesof Bleaching Beeswax; and Ido hereby to be a full, clear, and

exact description 0 the-invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it a pertains to make and use the'sarne.

1s'invention relates to bleaching of bees-' wax, and its object is to shorten the time requlred for the processes now employed and torediice the resultant ex 8 1188. The invention consists in bleaching beesl wax b 'means of-fu1lers:earth, m re parso ave provedunsatisfactory.

ticular y by" heating the Wax with t eearth ate-certain 'temperature,.or between certain .tem eratures. I v H retofore, beeswax has been bleached by subjecting it to the action of sunlight. for a long period of timefrom three to four weeks-and.- chiefl in the summer time.

Chemical methods avealso been res'ortedto for de-colorizing the wax, peroxid of hydrogen, dioxidof sulfur, bichromatc'of potash and permanganate .of potash having been used for this,purpose; but these chemical rocesses, .as' well as the sunlight process,

According to my invention, the natural coloring matters in the wax, as well as various impurities, are absorbed, While the wax 1s m a melted condition, bywhat is largely a mechanical, though not improbablyto some extent; at least, a chemical process. The

raw beeswax is heated with admixture of i fullers earth, a hydrated silicate of alumina,

and this agent gradually absorbs all the coloring matter and impurities, leaving the wax white, after which the wax is filtered from the residue and the latter treated to recover the wax retained therein.

I am aware that heretofore fullers earth and Walkers earth have been used for purifying mineral and vegetable oils andfa'ts, but

never for the bleaching of wax, or at the temperature employed in the present process.

In carr ing out my invention, I roceed as follows: heat a hundred parts 0 raw, unbleached beeswax, to about 130 centigrade -.clarifying effect upon the wax. as may occur in t 'a uc ad hiodnnusi 2,1906. sesnnazaeaie with constant stirring, and add thereto ten parts, more or less, of fullers earth, preferably in small quantitiest'o prevent overflow of the liquid. The temperature is then furs then raised to between 150.and 170, centigrade, care' being observed 'to avoidhi'gher temperatures, While the -heatin to time, samples are taken from the liquid,

filtered, and allowed to cool'upon-a ane of glass, in order todetermine' when the leachn is completed. i

is contin-ued, the fullers earth absorbs t e matter en a sample, on cooling, shows a clear white, which usually occurs after the lapse of about thirty minutes, heating is discontinued, and the still hot and li uid Wax is freed from the now discolored lers earth,

by meansof filter-presses, by centrifugal action, orby any other desirable method.

The residue, comprising the fullers earth and impurities'with. about 40 to50 per cent.

of wax is then treated with any suitable sol-.

vent, for. instance tetrachlorid of carbon, bisulfid of carbonfor the like, to'recoverthe percentage of wax. tained is distilled to recover 0th the wax and the solvent. g

Experiment has show'nthatup to about 130 C. fullers earth has no satisfactory Such change e wax below this temperatureis of absolutely no practical value and is negligible The absorption of the impurities by the earth begins slowly at this temperature and continues up to between 155 The 11' uid thus ob-' and 165 C. Experience has demonstrated to me that, if .the fullers earth be added before the temperature of the wax has risen to approximatel 130 0., the requisite division of the cart through the liquid is not obtained, and it is very difficult to avoid the formation of lum s, which, when once formed, are exceedingy hard to break uo.

.For this reason, andbecause no useful resu t is obtained by adding the earth before the point is reached, I- find it advisable not to mix the wax and earth at a lower temperature. In any event, bleaching of the wax cannot be effected at lower temperature than this. On the other hand, 1t imperative that the wax, after the addition of the peratu res p10 ufqllers earth, shall not be allowed to attain .altemperature exceeding the approximate limit named, namely between 150 and.l C. At about 160 (3., chemical decomposirl U tion and vaporization of the wax sets in, and

this action owe more intenseas the temperature is 'sti further raised. Therefore, temperatures between 0., approximately,

and (1., ap roximately, are the only tem.

peratures at w ch bleaching of wax may be efiected b means offallen earth. If temat is claimed as new is: 1 vThe process of bleaching beeswax,

proximately 13090., a ding fullers eart elow 100 CL, for instance are em ed, the wax will notbecome bleached. v Witnesses:

' some:

which consists in addin fullers earth to the beeswax and heating t e mixture between 130 and 0., substantially as described.

2. The which conslsts in heatin the beeswax to ag and then still further raisin the temperature toward 170 (3., substantia ly as described.

3. The rocess of bleaching beeswax,"

fullers earth considerab stantially as described.

which conslsts in heatin? the beeswax with above 130, sub;

. In testimony whereof, I affix my signature,

in the presence of two subscribin witnesses." MULLER- ACOBS v EMIL PFLEIDERER,

GROVER C. v TOWNSEND. I

rocess of bleaching beeswax, V 

